Stanley Batkin first visited Israel in the 1950s (and twice annually almost until his death at 101 last year), and compiled a unique collection of souvenirs, purchasing art from every major Israeli artist, dating back to the 1920s when the then-new Bezalel School of Art emerged as the Plymouth Rock of the new Zionist creativity. Batkin’s collection eventually found its way into the Israel Museum, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, New York’s Jewish Museum and the Venice Biennale.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Over the past few weeks, more than 1,700 brush fires across Israel have destroyed homes, vehicles and countless irreplaceable personal possessions. As a nation, we have also suffered severe damage to more than 32,000 acres of precious natural resources – woodlands, grasslands and protected parklands, as well as the planted forests and the flora and ground-dwelling fauna that once thrived there.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli Air Force struck an Islamic State-affiliated group in Syria, killing four of its members, hours after the group fired on Israeli soldiers across the border.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that its soldiers were conducting an operation in the Golan Heights in which they passed the security fence with Syria while remaining in Israeli territory. They then came under attack with machine gun fire. The soldiers returned fire.